Microsoft seem to have settled on price again - this time for the zune store over iTunes. Is it really a valid point though, because for your $30,000 on iTunes you get to keep all the songs, but for your $15 Zune pass you only get 10 songs?

This is just a redo of Napster's much-derided "Do the math" campaign from a few years ago.

Yes, you get a lot of music available to you for a reasonable amount of money per month, but when Zune goes down (and it will) you lose access to the music you
subscribed to (as opposed to buying outright a lifetime-license). Given that even the MSN Music store went down after about 4-5 years that's $14.99 * 12 * 5 = nearly a thousand dollars, gone.

Also, the advert is wrong about it costing $30,000 to fill an iPod, reasons include:

People ripping their CDs and putting that music onto an iPod (and old CDs go for about £4 or even less in bargain bins)

Advertising is funny... the $30,000 # is easy to attack, but I am happy they are promoting the Zune Pass ... I own both an iPod and a Zune and I went out and bought a second zune for running (that is what I had the iPod for, a Nano) because I found that
I never wanted to buy new music for the iPod, while I pull new albums onto my Zune several times a week... I'm listening to way more music this way.

I totally get the DRM concerns, I see the Zune Pass music almost like a lease and the 10 restriction free songs are really just a bonus.

As far as the 3 PC limit... do you really need to access the Zune software on all of those? And download? Assuming you can sign in, you can still play music on the 4th PC without any problems. Do you keep an authorized version of iTunes on all 4, and copies
of all your downloaded music?

I have 4 machines as well, and I use the Zune on two of them only... never really found it to be that restricting.

Advertising is funny... the $30,000 # is easy to attack, but I am happy they are promoting the Zune Pass ... I own both an iPod and a Zune and I went out and bought a second zune for running (that is what I had the iPod for, a Nano) because I found that
I never wanted to buy new music for the iPod, while I pull new albums onto my Zune several times a week... I'm listening to way more music this way.

I totally get the DRM concerns, I see the Zune Pass music almost like a lease and the 10 restriction free songs are really just a bonus.

As far as the 3 PC limit... do you really need to access the Zune software on all of those? And download? Assuming you can sign in, you can still play music on the 4th PC without any problems. Do you keep an authorized version of iTunes on all 4, and copies
of all your downloaded music?

I have 4 machines as well, and I use the Zune on two of them only... never really found it to be that restricting.

duncan: yes, actually The TS is nice to playing music whereever I am in the world (well, in reality I've got my MP3s in a directory on my webserver).

I don't use iTunes or own an iPod, I just use PocketPlayer on my PDA, but it's really flaky and freezes up at times, also the battery life has really gone down in the 3 years I've owned it now. I'm considering moving to an iPhone eventually to replace both
my PDA and Smartphone.... or maybe the Palm Pre if it lives up to the hype. I'm looking for battery life-while-playing-music and none of the WinMo devices I've seen offer that, also WMP on WM sucks.

Who the hell actually spends even a few hundred pounds/dollars on iTunes? Most music on iPods is rips and mp3 downloads (illegal or otherwise) as can be established by dividing the number of songs sold on iTunes store by the number of iPods sold. I wouldn't
be surprised if Apple is making more money on App downloads than music right now.

Advertising is funny... the $30,000 # is easy to attack, but I am happy they are promoting the Zune Pass ... I own both an iPod and a Zune and I went out and bought a second zune for running (that is what I had the iPod for, a Nano) because I found that
I never wanted to buy new music for the iPod, while I pull new albums onto my Zune several times a week... I'm listening to way more music this way.

I totally get the DRM concerns, I see the Zune Pass music almost like a lease and the 10 restriction free songs are really just a bonus.

As far as the 3 PC limit... do you really need to access the Zune software on all of those? And download? Assuming you can sign in, you can still play music on the 4th PC without any problems. Do you keep an authorized version of iTunes on all 4, and copies
of all your downloaded music?

I have 4 machines as well, and I use the Zune on two of them only... never really found it to be that restricting.

Hey on the DRM stuff...

just ask Sven (hope i spelled that right) about his issues with the MSFT e-reader.

DRM + Activation some day will be a problem.

I really hate to say it but so far MSFT has a poor track record of keeping subscription stuff going for any length of time.

One care is going away, the old msft music thing that was closed and so on...

MSFT needs to make sure that stops. and that device activation is not a problem for the legit user.

just ask Sven (hope i spelled that right) about his issues with the MSFT e-reader.

DRM + Activation some day will be a problem.

I really hate to say it but so far MSFT has a poor track record of keeping subscription stuff going for any length of time.

One care is going away, the old msft music thing that was closed and so on...

MSFT needs to make sure that stops. and that device activation is not a problem for the legit user.

One Care's hardly a fair comparison here though, because they're honouring all existing subscriptions untill they expire and it's not like you'd have got to keep it after your subscription ran out anyway.

This is just a redo of Napster's much-derided "Do the math" campaign from a few years ago.

Yes, you get a lot of music available to you for a reasonable amount of money per month, but when Zune goes down (and it will) you lose access to the music you
subscribed to (as opposed to buying outright a lifetime-license). Given that even the MSN Music store went down after about 4-5 years that's $14.99 * 12 * 5 = nearly a thousand dollars, gone.

Also, the advert is wrong about it costing $30,000 to fill an iPod, reasons include:

People ripping their CDs and putting that music onto an iPod (and old CDs go for about £4 or even less in bargain bins)

w3bbo you should watch the ad again because he clearly says it would cost 30,000 to fill an ipod using itunes.. clearly he means buying from the store considering the only way to put anything on an ipod is from itunes anyway.. piracy is irrelevant, free
music is rare and using it as a mass storage device isn't what an ipod music player is about.. all your arguments were really weak, and not to mention the point of commercial was to twist facts to make a case.. I think theres real people out there who blow
tons away on itunes.. hell I buy all my music on cd, and I'm starting to want a subscription service because:

A) I'm running out of space to store all these cds
B) DRM free music is more common now

One Care's hardly a fair comparison here though, because they're honouring all existing subscriptions untill they expire and it's not like you'd have got to keep it after your subscription ran out anyway.

yes and no...

the rub is that they start something and then kill it.
I just don't like that, it might be the right financial call but it also gives a feeling that they might not support me later.
MSFT has done good with some lines, xbox for example....

When will Microsoft learn? You get what you pay for. Ownership vs. Lease. Can we all be certain the Zune Store will be here tomorrow? Is Apple's pricing structure really the only thing they can attack?

Microsoft should stop slamming their competition and start pointing out great things in their products..... wait.... they tried that with the ads they shot at Best Buy advertising Windows Live Gallery etc. and were atrocious. Hire a new marketing team!

Not all the stuff you can download is DRM-free from what I understand, and if you fill your Zune with the DRM-laced stuff as part of your subscription, then $10 is going to look pretty small when you're trying to get hold of the tracks you like when MS cans
the service (and judging from their past record ...)

I imagine that you have to dock your Zune every so often so that it knows that the subscription is still live. If you have to go away for an extended period (four weeks by the looks of it) then you will lose access to your music, and ten dollars doesn't
buy you enough for a road trip.